Rise of the Alpha-Children
by Ragerrodent
Summary: Gaea has been defeated, several months have passed with peace, but a legend so old, not even the gods remember it has surfaced. One god has begun the struggle. The Alpha-Children have awakened. Demigods are torn between their friendships and their loyalty to their parents. It's kill or be killed and may the Omega-Alpha win.
1. Chapter 1

Camp Halfblood was at its finest. More Halfbloods than ever before thrived in this safe haven, filling the few dozen cabins built on the edge of the huge forest. It had been over half a year since Gaea had threatened to destroy the earth's surface and nothing abnormal had happened since. That is, aside from all the ordinary hero stuff like killing monsters and small quests. Chiron sat on the porch of the Big House with Annabeth Chase and surveyed the activity before them. Annabeth kept looking out over Halfblood Hill, trying for a glimpse of Percy as he was due any minute to return from a trip to retrieve a new demigod.

"What time is it now?" she asked impatiently.

Chiron chuckled, "About two minutes since the last time you asked. Be patient my dear, they'll be back soon."

Annabeth was unsatisfied. "They should be back by now; they were due here twenty minutes ago. Maybe something has happened."

"Perhaps," was all Chiron said in reply, leaving Annabeth even more worried. She scanned the horizon for the millionth time, not expecting anything new, but as her eyes crossed the top of the hill, she grew excited.

"There! Chiron, they're here! They're back!" She was already ten yards away when she suddenly heard Chiron charging behind her. As he thundered past she pondered his sudden interest. Chiron didn't usually act so enthusiastic. Maybe he too missed Percy. But her heart froze in terror when she heard Chiron cry out: "Heroes to the top of the hill! We have a major injury!"

Sure enough, when Annabeth studied the scene, she saw that one of the two figures on the hill was practically dragging the other over the top. "Percy, what have you done to the new hero?" she thought to herself in mild alarm. She kept running until she got to the bottom of the hill, where she looked up to see Chiron taking the limp boy onto his back and carrying him back toward the Big House. Only then did she realize the extent of the situation. It wasn't the new kid on Chiron's back, it was Percy. Frozen from shock, all Annabeth could do was watch as Chiron again ran past her back the way they had come. Finally, she overcame her initial surprise.

"Oh gods," she said. That didn't even begin to cover how she felt. A cold numbness spread throughout her body at the thought of losing Percy. She had begun to plan her whole life around him, and now he looked like he might be leaving her for good. Unable to cope with the idea, she simply sunk to her knees and watched as Chiron entered the Big House, followed by some campers from the Apollo cabin.

Everyone had forgotten the new kid. He stood alone on the top of Halfblood Hill, looking down upon the camp. He wasn't really in much better shape than Percy was. Exhaustion was written all over him and he more stumbled than walked his way down to the camp. He paused as he saw Annabeth kneeling in the grass, staring at the Big House. "He's fine," he croaked out, barely above a whisper. Annabeth was thrown out of her mental coma and stood to face the boy before her. She immediately felt a little guilty that nobody had done anything for him; the poor guy looked like he was about to collapse, but he spoke again, "He just got hit by a club in the head two miles back."

"Just a club to the head, huh?" Annabeth sighed. At least that meant he wasn't dead for now, though the possibility still remained. She thought about what he'd said. "Did you say 'two miles'?" The boy nodded. "How'd you get from there to here with him unconscious?"

He looked at here like that should be obvious, which made her upset as a child of Athena. "I carried him," he answered simply.

Annabeth just stared at him. He looked athletic, but definitely not like someone who went around carrying people for two miles easily. He must have had some incredible willpower, which was surprising considering he was new to all of this. Most new kids were pretty fragile when they first started. "What's your name?" she asked.

The boy gave her one last look, this one full of sorrow, as if bringing up his name brought back all the memories of his life before all this started, then said, "Ethan," before he passed out.

. . .

Percy awoke with one of the worst headaches he had ever had. "Gods," he moaned, "someone get the number of that truck." Before he knew what hit him, Annabeth had thrown her arms around his neck. "Whoa! Gentle with the head there," he cried as she caused the headache to spike.

"You idiot!" she cried, as tears ran onto his shoulder. "I thought I might have lost you."

With effort, Percy managed to put an arm around her as she cried. "Hey, I'm alright," he said, even though he felt like he had just overdosed on ambrosia. "Honestly, it takes more than a Laistrogonian to take me out. The thing just got a lucky hit on me." Suddenly Percy went rigid. "Oh gods, Ethan! Is he okay?" he asked with genuine concern. "Did he make it?"

Annabeth pulled back from her embrace and nodded, "Yeah, he showed up dragging your unconscious self over Halfblood Hill. He apparently managed to fend of the monster and carry you a couple miles all on his own."

Percy noted a slight awe in her tone, and he couldn't blame her. That was quite a feat. "Where is he? I should probably thank him."

"After we got you in here he passed out from exhaustion," she explained. "It's been a few hours since you two arrived, and he hasn't woken up yet."

Percy nodded gently in understanding. He felt like he needed a few more good hours of sleep too, or maybe days.

"Get some rest, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, smiling. "I'll stay right here." With that she lay her head down next his on the pillow and rested her hand on his chest. Her touch still sent shivers down his spine, but the familiarity of it eased him quickly back to sleep. His dreams for the rest of night consisted of giants chasing him through way-too-loud rock concerts that were giving him a headache – it was good to be home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Glad to see that my story has received such a warm welcome. I appreciate the support you all have already given, and I will try to post as often as possible, school permitting. Please review with your thoughts and opinions so I can know what y'all want and think.**

The next morning, Percy awoke to find Annabeth sitting next to him, looking at designs on Daedalus' laptop. "Hey," he murmured softly, trying not to sound like a guy with a concussion. She immediately looked away from her computer screen and greeted him with a warm smile and good morning. Percy stretched his legs to see how he felt and was surprised to find that his body didn't feel awful.

"Kevin from the Apollo cabin came in the middle of the night to give you a dose of nectar," Annabeth seemed to be reading his thought. "You were pretty much out it, so he just injected a small amount into your arm." Percy glanced down at his right arm, and sure enough, there was a small needle-mark on his right forearm.

"Helped a lot, I feel a lot better today," he said. After a few awkward moments of silence, he asked Annabeth to help him outside.

"Are you sure you don't want to just take it easy?" she asked with concern. If there was one drawback to Annabeth being his girlfriend, it was that she was now a lot more protective. It was as if she suddenly became his mother whenever he hurt himself, except his mom was more justified.

"I'm alright, really," he assured her as he swung his legs out over the side of the bed. He got up slowly and Annabeth quickly rose to help him. He wouldn't admit it, but just standing up made him nauseous. With Annabeth supporting him, he gingerly walked out of the sick room and out onto the porch of the Big House. She led him over to a bench, and they sat down to watch the morning activities starting all over camp. Halfbloods were roaming around doing chores, getting ready for sword fighting, and just hanging out. As he enjoyed the familiar sights, however, his eyes landed on the kid he'd gone to retrieve. He was sitting on the edge of the woods by himself, staring at nothing. He pointed him out to Annabeth, "Look, there's Ethan."

She followed his finger and her brow furrowed. "Why is he sitting alone? I mean, I understand it's a lot to grasp, but you would think that he would be asking some questions or something at least right?" She looked at Percy, but he didn't look as confident.

"He's rather strange," he admitted. "When I retrieved him, the satyr that had found him told me that no monsters had attacked him in several years. The kid was just leading a normal life, free from danger."

This didn't add up in Annabeth's mind. "If that's true, then why did we send _you_ to go retrieve him?"

"The satyr told me that it wasn't because Ethan didn't' smell very strong that monsters weren't attacking him. It was that he smelled too strong." She didn't look like she understood what he meant. "The monsters didn't attack Ethan because they were afraid of him," he explained.

This was a first. It was one thing for a monster to ignore a demigod because the scent was so faint that it wasn't noticeable, but for a monster to decide that a halfblood was too strong was unheard of. "Wait, but if that's so, then that still doesn't make sense why we retrieved him. If he wasn't in any danger then…"

Percy shook his head, "That's just it, he was in danger, because the longer monsters feared him, the more monsters learned about him. Pretty soon, the satyr found out that Echidna herself was planning on hunting Ethan." The news had a visible effect on Annabeth. Echidna was one of the most dangerous monsters known to demigods. She had attacked Percy on the St. Louis Arch on their first quest together and had effectively outmatched him. She was the mother of all other monsters, mating with Tartarus himself. It really didn't get much worse than coming up against her. "When the satyr discovered this, he contacted Camp Halfblood immediately and informed Chiron. We were told that we had a few days before Echidna planned to strike, but when I arrived it was too late. Ethan had been assaulted face-to-face by Echidna herself."

Annabeth blinked, "But wait, if you were too late, then how is he here now?"

Percy looked back over to the woods, "Because he defeated Echidna on his own with his bare hands."

. . .

Ethan wasn't just staring off into nothing; he was contemplating who his father was. After Percy had retrieved him, he had explained a lot of stuff about the Greek gods and how they were still around and had kids and stuff. Ethan knew that he was a halfblood. What surprised him was just how well he accepted it. He felt like he should be freaking out, but he simply acknowledged the fact as if he had been told that Darth Vader was Luke's father. So now he sat pondering who his parent was. There were certain obvious ones that he could rule out like Aphrodite and Demeter, but a lot of the others had traits that he could relate to. Currently he had narrowed it down to Ares, Hecate, Athena, or one of the Big Three. Athena didn't seem very likely since many of her children had blonde hair and grey eyes. His dark, brown eyes and matching hair didn't exactly fit the description. He liked fighting and war, so Ares seemed likely, but there seemed more to him than that, like fighting was just one trait out of many. Hecate was a possibility – he had always been interested in magic and stuff, but for how powerful Percy had said he was, a minor goddess like Hecate didn't seem to fit. That left the Big Three, and to be honest, all of them seemed possible.

After going through his cycle of choices for the millionth time, Ethan decided that he needed a change of scenery. The woods seemed like a good place to clear his head, so he headed off into their depths. He walked for about fifteen minutes until he came upon a small clearing. As he entered it and looked around, he noticed that all the trees surrounding it were dead. "That's odd," he said softly. Even at his feet the grass was all dead. He began to grow slightly anxious, but at the same time, something about this place just felt right to him, and he found himself walking to the center of the clearing. When he reached it, he turned and found himself facing a hideous, winged creature, brandishing a whip.

"Greetings, most favored one," the creature hissed through serrated teeth.

Ethan turned to run away, but found that two other similar creatures had him surrounded in a triangle, all wielding those wicked looking whips. "What are you?" he demanded.

The first creature answered, "We are the three Furies, servants of Lord Hades. But it matters little who we are; what matters, young hero, is who _you_ are."

She said this as if Ethan was supposed to be picking up on something important, but he was clueless. The only thing that he gathered was that these Fury things had been sent by Hades to meet him here. "I'm Ethan," he said cautiously, "unless I have another name."

"Hmmm," the Fury pondered, "so you don't yet understand who you are then? No matter, we shall see to that." With that, the clearing was submerged in darkness, and Ethan fell into the land of spirits.

Everything was chaotic, and he couldn't help but cry out in alarm, "What is this? Where am I?" Around him, hundreds of voices called out to him, telling him stories. As he listened, part of him knew that their words were more than mindless chatter. They filled him with knowledge. In a matter of minutes, Ethan understood exactly what had happened to him and why, and as auickly as it had begun, he was pulled out of the spirit realm by the Furies.

"Now," the Fury crowed, "have you come to terms with your fate?"

Ethan considered what he had just gone through, then looked straight into the eyes of the Fury. As he stared it down, he realized that it was intimidated. So he held some power in this exchange after all, even if he didn't understand fully why just yet. He nodded firmly, "I have."

"Good. Then it is time the world came to terms with it as well," she replied. Her words had barely ended when darkness again came, but not the thick, choking darkness of before. This was more like the last few moments of twilight before the sky goes completely dark. A sword rose out of the dirt before Ethan: a diamond blade, filled on the inside with liquid Styx, the cross-guard adorned by matching sapphires on the ends, and the hilt wrapped in fresh leather. He reached out and grasped it in his hands.

. . .

Percy and Annabeth had finished discussing the new kid and were talking about the last game of capture the flag when the sky went dark. All over the camp, activity ceased. Campers stared in awe as a cloud of pure darkness emerged from the woods. The cloud stopped at the border of the woods, and everyone waited to see what would happen. Seemingly out of nowhere, a line of twenty hellhounds stepped forth from the cloud and marched in perfect symmetry. Before anyone could react, six lines of dead soldiers marched out, following the hellhounds. What came next literally sent shivers down every camper's spine. An earth-shattering roar filled the camp, and Serberus – Hades' skeletal, three-headed watch dog – stepped out of the forest with Ethan riding on top. Above Ethan, the three Furies flew around the pitch black, glowing symbol that hovered over his head. The symbol was of a scythe, but above it was a crown.

Alecto, the head Fury, called out to the entire camp, "All hail, Ethan! Alpha Child of Hades, Lord of the Underworld!"

 **Thanks for reading! Just so you know, things are about to get crazy! I'm also soon gonna bring in the main characters! Psych, they're not actually Percy and Annabeth, tho they are important. Just wait, it's gonna get good ;)**


	3. Chapter 3: The Prophecy

As all the campers assembled around the scene, none had the courage to say or do anything except stare in stunned silence. What had been a perfectly normal day now had taken a frightening turn. Arriving on the scene, Chiron took the initiative and exclaimed, "What is the meaning of this?" He looked to Ethan, sitting atop Serberus and directed his question to him, "What are you doing?"

"Silence!" cried Alecto, "Do not speak to the Alpha in such a way!"

Indignant, Chiron spoke a few curses to her in ancient Greek that shouldn't be translated. "And just why should I not speak so in _my_ home?" he asked defiantly.

Alecto chuckled, like she was listening to a small child, but Ethan raised his hand, silencing her. "Chiron," he called, "I request an audience with you to discuss our situation."As is he were wanting to do precisely the same, he nodded and gestured for Ethan to follow, but Ethan wasn't finished. "Are the Seven of the last prophecy present here at camp?" he asked. As it turned out, several Romans were visiting Camp Halfblood, along with Jason, Frank, Hazel, and Reyna. "I will meet with you, Chiron, as well as the Seven, Praetor Reyna, and my brother, Nico."

Percy stepped forth, followed closely by Annabeth, and nearby Jason emerged from the crowd. Percy called up, "And what if we refuse?"

Ethan's dark, cold eyes stared down on Percy so intensely that he wished he hadn't asked. Suddenly, Ethan was at Percy's side, whispering into his ear, "You don't want to do that."

Percy literally jumped, shivering involuntarily from the words. Ethan had apparently shadow traveled, but even for such a short distance, the exertion should have had an effect on him; he didn't look like it has taken anything out of him.

Ethan turned back to Chiron. "Where do you want to hold the meeting?"

. . .

Ten minutes later, the assembled group was seated around the ping-pong table in the Big House. Those present included Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo (who had returned soon after the war), Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Nico, Chiron, Ethan, and Rachel Dare, whom Ethan had also asked be present.

Chiron cleared his throat, "Would you care now to explain what all that was about out there, Ethan?" After they had all headed to the Big House, the Underworld forces had all disappeared and the darkness had faded back to sunlight, but the uneasy chill still hung in the air.

Ethan leaned back into his chair and took a deep breath. After all that just had happened he felt wiped. Not that he felt that he had exerted much physical effort, but emotional. "It's rather complicated to explain," he started, but Annabeth was not about to have any cop-out answers.

"You called this meaning to explain it, so start." She was still a little edgy from what she saw as an invasion of her home.

Turning to Chiron, Ethan asked, "What do you know about the Alpha-Children?" The term did not seem familiar to him.

"Nothing in particular," he admitted. "What are they?"

"Well," Ethan started, "there is actually only one, but more are coming."

"And I take it that you are the one?"

"Yes, I am the first."

"But what does it mean? What is an Alpha-Child?" Chiron asked with a hint of anxiety in his voice, as if he thought that he might not want to know.

Ethan turned to Rachel, "Spirits of the dead are informing me incessantly even as we speak, but I wager our oracle here would be capable of telling us. That is, if Apollo even knows."

Annabeth interjected again, "The gods know about all things. And if this is some sort of prophetic thing, then Apollo would most certainly know!" She looked to Chiron for confirmation, but all she received was a look that told her this was not necessarily true.

Rachel seemed to be thinking hard, scouring her brain for anything referencing their present situation. Finally she spoke, "It's old. Apollo hasn't even thought about this in millennia. It's like the gods forgot about it."

"Please inform us all, Rachel," Ethan urged.

She concentrated for a moment, then her eyes turned green. Her voice came in an ancient, dry tone, but she didn't speak in her normal rhyming rhythm of prophecies. Rather, she sounded almost like she was simply scolding someone.

 _Oh foolish Olympians!_

 _Trial and error mean nothing to you_

 _You make the same mistakes again and again_

 _When will you realize the futility of futility?_

 _Your days are numbered_

 _They are coming_

 _False hope after destruction leads back to destruction_

 _Once foolish, always foolish_

 _Your doom is your greed_

 _You have awakened the Alphas_

 _All that remains is the question_

 _Who will be the Omega?_

 _The reunited shall splinter_

 _What was saved is now lost_

 _War is the last answer_

 _Pray you do not join late_

 _The Alphas have been blessed_

 _They have taken the field_

 _But what is the cost?_

 _Do you realize your crime?_

 _Kill or be killed_

 _There can only be one winner_

 _When all else are dead, however,_

 _Does the victor even matter?_

 _Compromise now, or never again_

 _When one is born, the deadline is passed_

 _Make haste Make haste_

 _Or you already claim last_

When she finished, her eyes regained their natural color and she sighed as she leaned back. "I don't understand what I just said, but it didn't sound good."

Ethan nodded, "It matches what the spirits are telling me, and you're right – it's not good. The gods have gone to war with each other, and I'm the cause."

Jason stood up, "You can't be serious? War? But we just prevented a war against Gaea! The gods all helped us."

"Just as the prophecy said it would be," Chiron remarked calmly. "Go on, Ethan."

"Indeed, the prophecy states that this will all happen after a prevented disaster. We can assume it was talking about you guys defeating Gaea. Now my father, Hades has decided to have me."

"But wait," Piper spoke up, "You look like you're like, seventeen or so…"

"Sixteen," he said.

"Yeah, well, if you are sixteen, then what do you mean your father _now_ decided to have you?"

Ethan nodded, it was a good question. "The line in the prophecy that says, 'The Alphas have been blessed' is what I mean. Hades had me for the purpose of being his Alpha, but I just received the blessing."

Jason asked what they all were wondering, "And…what is the blessing?"

"All of my father's power," Ethan said, and the others couldn't help noticing that he seemed somewhat smug. But who could really blame him? If what he said was true, then he had just been given all the strength of the Lord of the Underworld.

Chiron, who had sat quietly listening to all Ethan had to say, reacted at this. "Are you saying that Hades has made you a god?"

"No, of course not," Ethan seemed to realize there was still confusion. "I simply have his powers.

"If that is true," Chiron continued, "then why does Hades even bother? What purpose does your existence serve him if you are no different than him?"

Ethan bristled, "I am not my father. I am his Alpha-Child. Don't you guys understand? I have his powers! Yet I have the responsibility of a demigod! I'm a god in a mortal body! Ancient laws mean nothing to me."

Chiron paled, "This is truly grave news if what you say is true."

Annabeth spoke up, "Chiron, if I understand this all correctly, it sounds like we are kind of at his mercy."

Chiron looked from her back to Ethan, "Yes my dear, it would seem so."

Rather than accept their submission though, Ethan looked uneasy. "Well, for now anyways. But the prophecy has only begun. The rest of the gods are even now preparing their responses now that the prophecy has come to light. I just have a head start. Soon the gods will bless their own Alphas."

"And what happens then?" Annabeth asked.

For the first time, the group saw fear in Ethan's eyes, but it was mixed with excitement, like when you reach the top of a roller-coaster and you see the drop in front of you. "Then we hunt each other to the death to be the Omega Alpha."

"Wait," Percy exclaimed, "so you're saying that you and a bunch of other Alpha-thingies are going to go all Hunger Games and stuff and we're supposed to just sit back and watch?"

Ethan gave Percy a sincere look, which he actually found more frightening than before. This kid just radiated fear and mystery. "I'm afraid that you too, Percy might become an Alpha as well. You are the only son Poseidon has after all. And it won't be as simple as a normal fight to the death. The Alphas will be like gods. The entire world will feel their wrath, and most demigods I predict will take sides."

"If this is what is going to happen, then can you just not hunt the other Alphas?" Annabeth asked in desperation.

"I wish," admitted Ethan, "but it's programmed into us. Even now all I can think about is finding the other Alphas and destroying them." He turned back to Chiron, "Much as I wish I could stay, I'm afraid I am endangering everyone here by staying. Soon the _others_ will find me here, and you don't want to get caught in the cross-fire. I will say though, if anyone here at camp wants to join me, I'll let them come."

Chiron nodded, much to Annabeth's amazement. "You can stay for a week to recruit and train, then be on your way."

Ethan agreed, and everyone took the hint that the meeting was over. Ethan walked over to Nico, "Hey," he said. Nico made a small nod in response. "Don't suppose you want to join me? We are both children of Hades."

He seemed to consider it for a moment, but said "I prefer to stay neutral."

Ethan smirked, "Like dad." Nico couldn't help but smirk as well. Together, the two of them headed to the Hades cabin where Ethan would call home for one

 **Thanks for reading! Next chapter will bring in Ethan's followers, and training will begin. Y'all ready to see what powers Ethan really has? Please review and show your support!**


	4. Chapter 4: Candidates

"So what do you make of everything that happened this morning?" Matthew was trying to dutifully enchant some arrows like a good Hecate boy, but his friend Heather was making things difficult with her incessant questioning. She was a daughter of Athena and had found the morning's excitement fascinating.

"I don't know," Matthew muttered, "I guess it was kind of creepy."

"Creepy? That's all you have to say?" she exclaimed. "The three Furies themselves came! He rode in on Serberus! And all you can say is, 'it was kind of creepy'?" He shrugged and returned to engraving magical symbols on the arrowheads. "Oh, why do I even bother? Why I thought you would make a compatible conversation partner I'll never know. I'm going to go see if Annabeth has gotten out of that meeting yet. She would at least answer intelligibly." With that, she spun on her heel and stalked away, muttering something about knowing smarter squirrels.

Heather found Ethan's dramatic claiming interesting for two reasons. First, it looked like it meant something big was coming since Chiron and he had immediately arranged a camp council. Ethan himself, though, also intrigued her. When he had emerged from the forest, he had looked so dark; it was hard to even see him. It was as if he had been sitting in the middle of a shadow, but nothing made one. When he had become more visible, there sat a boy wielding a sword that looked like the blade was a razor-sharp, sleek diamond, but inside it glowed a blue light in the core. His countenance was fearsome and calculating. For the moment, it had looked as if nothing could possibly challenge his authority. As frightening as the sight was, however, she felt drawn to find out more about it.

Upon reaching the Athena cabin, she ducked inside to find a few of her siblings studying ancient texts and 3-D designers. She made her way to the rear of the cabin where Annabeth's bunk was. Heather found her sitting on her bunk googling something. "Hey, Annabeth?" she began, now slightly timid. Heather had always been somewhat intimidated by Annabeth, and now that she had gone on so many crazy quests, she always seemed out of her league in a way.

Annabeth just looked up, "Oh, hey Heather. What's up?"

"I was just wondering, do you know anything about that new guy?"

Annabeth pursed her lips. "I know a little, but I'm not sure what of it I am allowed to say. He specifically asked for certain people to be in on the meeting, and I wasn't permission to tell anybody else. I'm sorry, but you'll have to ask Chiron about it. Why do you ask?"

Heather's eyes suddenly met the floor. "Oh, I was just curious." She could feel Annabeth studying her, and she knew what she was thinking. I just thought all that happened this morning was interesting and I wanted to know what you thought

Annabeth smirked, "Well, what I think and what I know are two different questions. I can't tell you what I know, but…I may be able to tell you my thoughts on the matter."

Heather let out a small smile, "So?"

"What is happening is obviously something important. Personally, I fear that it may be even more drastic than the Titan war, or perhaps even the conflict against Gaea. This time, however, I predict that we won't have many of our friends from which to expect help."

Heather considered everything Annabeth had said for a minute, then asked, "And how does Ethan fit into all of this?"

"Because, he just started it this morning," Annabeth said solemnly. With that, she turned back to her laptop, and Heather saw that she was reading something about "blessed children" whatever that was. Heather turned to leave when Annabeth suddenly asked, "So what is it about him you like?"

Heather was caught in a mix of blushing and surprise. "What makes you say that I do?"

"It may be subtle to some, but to be honest you remind me of myself a lot, and I was similarly obsessive about him back when I was in that phase."

She didn't know whether it was meant as a compliment or not, but all Heather knew was that Annabeth Chase – the girl who had led in the Titan war, escaped Tartarus, and helped defeat Gaea – had just said that she was similar to her. She almost forgot their actual conversation in her moment of pride, but she realized Annabeth was looking at her, expecting an answer.

"I guess I just like the mystery around him. Most guys I can look at and analyze entirely in minute. But I look at Ethan, and all I see are shadows and internal walls. I suppose I just am attracted to what I don't understand."

Annabeth nodded, "You know, instead of asking me about what's going on, maybe you should go talk to him about it."

Heather looked like she had been injected by a direct shot of expresso. "Do you think that's a good idea? I mean, would he even want to talk to me, and what would I say? Would you…"

Annabeth cut her off, laughing a little, "Relax, it's just a suggestion. If you want to get to know him, you might as well ask while the topic is ripe. Besides, if you ask me, I think he wants some company." Internally she had to laugh as Heather tried not to act too excited as she hurried off to talk to Ethan. When she was once again relatively alone she muttered to herself, "If only life would stay so easy and innocent."

. . .

Ethan headed over to the sword-fighting arena to see if he could pick out any potential candidates to join him. It was early afternoon, and he had spent the remainder of the morning after the council to get settled into the Hades cabin. Lunch would be soon, and he was definitely looking forward to it. As he entered, he heard the sound of several swords clashing. About fifteen kids of varying ages were practicing in the spacious arena. Ethan found a seat on the outskirts and watched a duel between a bulky dude who looked like death incarnate and an ordinary looking kid who was duel-wielding a sword and a dagger. The bigger guy looked like he could've squashed the other easily, but the smaller guy seemed to be holding his own. He would parry with his sword then follow up with an intricate attack with both blades that left the big guy stumbling to avoid getting sliced open. Finally, the big guy gave an incredible swing in frustration that should've cut the other guy in two, but where the smaller boy had stood a moment before there was only dust. Instead, the big guy had a sword pressed against his neck and dagger to his back. Somehow, the smaller guy had just appeared behind him in a split second.

The big guy did not seem thrilled by this turn of events. "Oh come one, Matthew! It's one thing to use freakin' enchanted blades, but to do your sorcery stuff in a duel is foul play!" The kid yelled.

The boy who had won, Matthew, merely shrugged and removed his blades. "You have to use your strengths, Evan. I can't beat a son of Ares by force, so I'll win by cunning."

"You mean you'll win by sorcery," Evan grumbled.

"Call it what you will. I merely showed you what you wanted to see. That's what the mist is."

"Whatever. Let me know when you want a fair fight." Evan marched out of the arena toward the dining pavilion.

Ethan decided this Matthew kid looked like he could be very useful and was about to go talk to him when a girl suddenly cleared her throat. He whirled around and thought for a moment that it was Annabeth. She had the same blonde hair and grey eyes, but she was a couple years younger looking and had less hardness in her countenance.

"Hi, you're Ethan right?" the girl asked. He nodded, not quite sure what she could want. "I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me what exactly happened this morning. Nobody will give me anything definite, and Annabeth suggested I talk to you."

This wasn't exactly good timing. Ethan needed to talk to Matthew who looked like he was about to leave. Before he could answer though, Matthew looked over and called out, "Hey Heather!"

She looked somewhat annoyed, "Hi Matthew."

He walked over and seemed to only just notice who she was talking to. "Hey, you must be that new guy. Ethan, right?"

"Yeah, I actually was just about to come talk to you," said Ethan, not looking at Heather.

"Really? What about?"

Ethan glanced at Heather now, "It has to do with the council meeting this morning. I have a proposition for you," he said.

"I'm all ears, but let's talk over lunch shall we?" Matthew said gesturing toward the dining pavilion. "Normally cabins can't mingle during meals, but I doubt anybody is going to bother the guy who rode in on Serberus. Come on!" With that, he began walking out of the arena, but he stopped when he remember Heather. "Hey," he said to Ethan, "is it cool if she comes too?" Heather gave him a look that showed she was grateful.

Ethan glanced over then shrugged, "She wants to know about the meeting anyways."

"Then let's eat," said Matthew, leading the way.HadeH


	5. Chapter 5: Brotherly Love

The camp lunch was amazing as usual. The group of three sat at the far end of the Hades table to have privacy. Nico was at the other end, unbothered by his solitude. Ethan explained the entire situation to Heather and Matthew in between slices of pizza, which he seemed to devour incessantly.

When he finished explaining, Heather looked at the table considering all the information while Matthew spoke up, "Alright I got two questions. First, how many pizza slices did you just eat? And second, where do I fit into this? It sounds like you Alphas are going to be incredibly strong and stuff. Like, I'm cool with watching the Avengers in a movie, but I ain't too keen on fighting one myself."

Ethan chuckled; he was starting to like this guy. "I don't expect you to. No one could defeat a full-strength Alpha except another Alpha. No, I only want you to help me fight other threats. I can't defeat monsters, other halfbloods, _and_ an Alpha all at once. That's why I need people with talents like yours to deal with such things so I can fight. Besides, it's always good to have some allies."

Matthew took a moment, then asked, "Would that mean I might have to kill people from this camp?"

Ethan nodded solemnly. "You have no reason to swear loyalty to me. I only ask."

"Would there be an Alpha of Hecate?"

"Quite possibly. I can't say for certain, but I would not be surprised."

Silence hung in the air surrounding those three as Matthew thought seriously about the matter. Then, he looked at Heather. "What do you think about it?"

Ethan hadn't expected this, but Heather didn't seem surprised to be asked. "I think you should do it," she said without hesitation. "I think, all things considered, that you would regret it if you turned down this opportunity."

Matthew nodded, then turned back to Ethan with a grin. "Alright, I'm in, and so is she."

"Wait, what?" asked Ethan confused. "I wasn't offering to…"

"Either she comes too, or neither of do," Matthew said, and Ethan knew that he wasn't moving from that stance.

He looked over at Heather, who was trying hard to remain composed, but it was obvious that she really wanted to join. "What can you do?" he asked.

As if she had been expecting this, she immediately responded, "I am one of the finest strategists in Athena's cabin, second only to Annabeth. I can fight with a sword and a bow. My cunning would complement Matthew's talents, and we are both used to fighting on a team as well. Recruit me, and you get an extra fighter, a strategist, and you increase Matthew's strength."

Ethan was impressed, but he didn't show it openly. Rather, he decided to test her nerves and stared her down with as much intensity as he could muster. Without meaning to, the entire dining pavilion darkened and fear radiated from him. Everyone went silent and began shivering. A few campers whimpered uncontrollably and one cried out for his mom.

Heather's confidence flew out the window, but she looked him in the eyes and saw only darkness. She felt like cowering in fear, hiding under the table, but she knew deep down in her consciousness that this was a test, and doing so would mean failure. So she stared back, fighting the fear in herself and the darkness that seemed to be surrounding her.

After a minute, Ethan blinked, and the darkness gave way to the sunlight that was really there. Some campers were hyperventilating from the terror they had just felt, but no one was hurt. Chiron merely looked grave, as though he was thinking about the end of the world, and maybe he was. All around, campers were cautiously resuming conversations, and several glanced over at the Hades cabin. Nico looked fine, but not happy.

"You can join if you wish," Ethan stated to Heather. She nodded, still shaken from the experience. "We only have a week before we leave. Training starts in the morning." Ethan grabbed one last slice of pizza and stood up. "And Matthew, this is slice number eleven."

. . .

Ethan sat in the Hades cabin thinking of how we start training tomorrow. It was almost curfew time, and most campers had gone to their cabins for the night, but Nico had yet to come in. Finally, a minute before curfew, he stormed inside. Ethan was sitting on a black couch and was relaxing when Nico entered the room and bellowed, "Just who do you think you are?"

"Whoa, calm down, Nico," Ethan tried to say, but it was no use. He was in a rage, but Ethan couldn't understand why.

"You may be my brother, but you have no right to do what you did to my friends at lunch!"

So that was it. Nico was upset just because of that? "Look, Nico, I didn't even mean to do that, and what's the big deal anyways? So I scared everybody; they were already scared of me to begin with."

"That's not the point!" he yelled. "It's not what you did, but that you did it to my friends."

"Oh cry me a river," Ethan moaned. But this was the wrong thing to say. Nico suddenly had his sword out, its black stygian iron blade glowing like glass – sharp glass.

"You will not speak to me in that way. I was claimed before you, brother."

"So why aren't you Alpha then?" This was starting to turn ugly, and Ethan knew he had to end it, or there would be blood spilled that night. "Just calm down alright? Put the sword away before this gets messy."

But Nico seemed to have lost his cool. "I should be the Alpha!" he cried, "I'll show father who really is his most powerful son!" With that, he lunged.

Ethan sat for a split second, unable to believe how quickly things had escalated. Then, he jumped up, his sword materialized out of the earth and into his hand. He swung up and met Nico's blade, and a flash of sparks showered the ground. When the blades met, the Stygian essence in both blades sent shockwaves throughout the room. A fissure ran across the floor as furniture was broken by the sheer force. They pulled away and each took fighting positions. Nico suddenly summoned three skeletal warriors from the darkness that had come upon the cabin. They charged, but Ethan merely opened a hole in the floor and they all tumbled straight to Tartarus. Nico already looked worn out from the effort, but his determination was not yet worn. Ethan, however, was feeling fine, stronger even. It seemed that the longer he stood in this atmosphere of darkness, the stronger he felt. With one smooth motion, He charged, melding into shadow mid-stride and reappearing a yard away from Nico's flank, sword already coming downward in a slash that would've cut him in two had he not shadow traveled immediately. As it was, the sword missed my half a second, and Nico reappeared on the other side of the room winded.

"Yield, Nico," Ethan called out. "You can't beat me, and I don't want to kill my own brother." To emphasize his power, Ethan summoned twelve new undead warriors, all in full Greek battle armor. They surrounded Nico with their javelins pointed at his chest. Then, Ethan cleared his mind and felt Nico's spirit and made him fear. With all his godly strength, Ethan emanated fear at Nico.

It was too much for him to handle. Nico collapsed on the ground, trembling and crying out of sheer terror. He cried out for Bianca, his sister to save him, but he was at Ethan's mercy. After what felt like an eternity, it ended, but Nico was unable to control himself, and he cried for another few minutes before he looked up. The darkness was gone, as were the undead warriors. In fact, the only evidence that a fight had taken place was the broken furniture and the sword in Ethan's hand.

"I'm sorry, Nico." He said softly. "But I am Alpha for a reason. I will not let you stand in the way of our father's purpose for blessing me. I don't expect you to join me, but stay out of my way, or next time you will feel my whole fury, and you will not survive it."

Nico flinched against his own will. The point had been made, but Ethan suddenly felt sorry for him. He walked over and held a hand out to help him up. "I'm afraid I'm not very good at comforting others, just scaring them."

Nico took the hand and stood up. He took a shaky breath and said, "I…I'm sorry. I just…felt..angry. I was mad at you because I thought dad should've made me Alpha, but…," he shook his head, "I see why dad chose you."

Ethan didn't really know what to say, but he nodded and patted Nico on the shoulder, "I'm proud to have a brother like you. I'm made solely for the purpose of making dad proud, but you have done so thus far on your will."

Nico seemed somewhat consoled by this. After apologizing again, he excused himself and went to bed, leaving Ethan in a war-torn room. The walls and floor were decorated with cracks from their clashing blades and powers. "So this is what it's going to look like," he muttered to himself. "Only when it starts, the world will look like this."

 **Dun dun DUNNN! Ah, I love dramatic endings. Please review with your thoughts, I love critiquing, good or bad (though I am thrilled to see only good reviews so far). Next chapter will have even more epicness to it, don't worry! I'll update ASAP.** HadeH


	6. Chapter 6: Training

The next morning at breakfast as Ethan and Nico sat at the Hades table, several of the other campers glanced nervously their way. Many had heard horrific sounds, and the Hades cabin, even from the outside, looked as if a Cyclopes marching band had walked right over it. No one dared to ask what had happened, not even Chiron. At the head table Chiron sat gravely eating his eggs while Mr. D. absently flipped through his usual wine magazine.

Nico had recovered after a restful night of sleep, but he still looked changed. Sitting across from him, Ethan hoped he hadn't done any permanent damage to Nico by making so afraid. Nico was a strong hero though, so if anyone could overcome the ordeal, Ethan was sure it was him.

When the meal ended, Ethan made a point to call Matthew and Heather over. "Alright," he said, "time for me to whip you two into shape. In less than a week I need you two to be capable of fighting anything from monsters to demigods to gods themselves. You ready?" Both of their faces expressed resolve and they nodded in agreement. "Let's do it then."

He led them directly to the arena, which was empty. "So what's first?" asked Matthew.

"I'm going to have you two take on a few hellhounds."

With that, Ethan walked over to the seating. Matthew paled, "What? What do you mean a _few_?"

Ethan just settled down in a comfortable position, waved his hand, and smirked. For a moment nothing happened. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, four hellhounds came running towards Matthew and Heather from different corners of the arena. Without a word, they both sprinted in different directions to divide the hounds. Heather ran to a weapons rack and pulled off a bow and quiver. Drawing an arrow, she turned a shot without looking; as she expected, the arrow hit the first hellhound just as it was leaping at her, ten feet away. It vaporized on the spot and the second hound hesitated. She drew a second arrow and this time aimed. She fired with deadly accuracy, but the hound somehow dodged and charged before she could draw another arrow. Still next to the rack she grabbed whatever was behind her and swung. Luckily, she had grabbed a sword, and the blade slashed through the monster as its jaws were a mere foot away.

Across the arena, Matthew was having similar success. He managed to convince the hellhounds with the mist to attack each other somehow. Meanwhile he found a sword and was able to disable them both one at a time relatively easily. Both heroes were breathing hard, but Ethan just stood up and said, "Not bad. Here comes round two." He lifted his hand, and twenty undead warriors emerged from the arena floor.

"Matthew, get over here," yelled Heather. He sprinted over and began inspecting the weapons rack, choosing a different sword that fitted him better.

"What's the play?" he asked

"I don't think the mist is going to fool dead…things. We just attack from different angles, try to get on their flanks. Let's hope they aren't very mobile." It wasn't much of a plan, but what else was there? Matthew ran around the group of dead warriors, who had begun advancing towards them. They didn't seem to care that one of their targets was now behind them; all twenty continued marching directly towards Heather, who was searching for a good place to attack in the group. Matthew began slicing through the rear skeletons, but he had only disabled three when they reached Heather. There was no way she could take on seventeen on her own, even if they were slow. The first three all struck at the same time, and Heather was forced to back away, swinging her sword in a wide arc. One skeletal warrior disintegrated, but more came. Matthew was slicing through the rear, but five cornered Heather, leaving her no room to back up. An idea came to Matthew and he concentrated. Suddenly, Heather didn't see fifteen warriors, she only saw two, swinging their swords. She countered and disabled them, but another appeared. She continued in this manor, taking one or two out as they attacked her, then facing a couple more. She didn't know what was happening, but after a few minutes of this, no more skeletons came.

Her surroundings came back into sight, and she saw Matthew looking almost as exhausting as she was. He met her eyes, "Made you…see…what you…wanted to…see," he panted.

Heather understood what had happened now. Matthew had manipulated the mist to let her only see only what she needed to see in order to survive. She couldn't help wondering if Ethan would've let the dead kill her, or if he would've stopped before actually hurting her. He definitely hadn't seemed to be prepared to spare her.

Ethan stood up and descended the steps into the arena. "That was pretty good," he commented. I'll give you two a quick break after that, but then we are going to get back to it. Meanwhile, you guys take a seat, and I'll give it a go." He paused, and then a slow smile crept onto his face. "You know, I'll be right back." He melded into shadow, leaving the sweaty pair of heroes behind.

"I get nervous when that guy smiles," grumbled Matthew.

"Hey, you agreed to join him," Heather responded.

"Yeah, I'm starting to wonder why I did. I just felt like it was the right thing, but now I can't figure out why I said yes."

"Well I wanted to, but I don't see why you did."

Matthew pondered for a second. "I guess I just liked the fact that someone appreciated my talents. You know, people always think I'm a freak, like Evan did. I like feeling needed for something."

She nodded in understanding. She knew how it felt to be an outcast. The only person who had ever treated her as an equal aside from Matthew was Annabeth, but she was always so busy with her own life.

After a few minutes, they saw Ethan walk into the arena with Percy, Jason, and Frank. "Thought I'd get some training with the best heroes of our age," he said with that same grin. "Not to mention these guys might just be Alphas soon, so it makes sense to get a feel for each other now." He turned to the three older teens. All of them at first glance looked like they could take Ethan on by themselves, but they eyed him cautiously, as if they were afraid he would explode.

"So how do you want to do this?" asked Jason. "You want to go two on two?"

Ethan frowned, "Two on two? That wouldn't be fair. No, three on one – you guys against me."

Percy snorted, "Right, I know you're like, blessed by your dad, but I've beat up your dad before, so I don't see how you plan to take us all on."

"I thought I explained this in the council meeting," Ethan sighed. "I have my father's powers without ancient laws holding me back. My dad couldn't fight full strength against you. I can."

"Let's just do it, Percy" said Jason. "Either he's telling the truth, and we'll need the advantage, or we'll beat him and put him in his place."

"I like the sound of that," said Frank who looked like he just wanted to get on with the whole thing.

"Let's do it then," said Ethan. He reached out his hand, and the diamond, stygian blade rose out of the ground into his grasp.

Percy and Jason both drew their respective magical weapons and Frank cracked his neck. Matthew and Heather realized they were too close for what was about to go down, and they both bolted for the bleachers. The fighters moved to the center of the arena and faced each other in a rough circle. No one moved for a few agonizing seconds. Then all hell broke loose – literally. As Percy and Jason both charged, Ethan's sword hit the earth, and a hole ten foot in diameter opened up in the ground. Dead warriors began pouring out of it. Jason summoned a bolt of lightning on the cloudless day and fried all the warriors in one shot. Percy reached Ethan and their blades clashed in a fury of swipes. It didn't seem possible to anyone watching that they could move their blades so fast.

Meanwhile, Frank was transforming into leopard and waiting for an opening to pounce in between the duel. Jason began picking up the winds, buffeting Ethan as he tried to fight off Percy's onslaught. At first, it looked as if Ethan was actually losing the fight. Then the earth erupted. A ten foot wall of stone separated Percy and Ethan. Frank used the opportunity to pounce, but Ethan split the wall into jagged daggers that shot at Frank like projectiles. Frank turned into a humming bird and dodged the shots, but he hung back. Ethan took the opening to raise a stone dome over the arena. Jason tried to stop him, but he seemed able to raise the dome while also fight with his sword. His blade's stygian essence kept creating shockwaves that blasted everyone with intense force. The dome closed over them, casting the arena into shadow. The arena's magic lit torches along the sides of the structure, but the light only threw more wild shadows onto the fighters. Suddenly, as Jason swung his sword right at Ethan's neck, Ethan vanished. He reappeared directly next to Percy and shoved him to the ground hard. Frank turned into a wolf and charged him. Jason summoned lightning, but nothing happened. Somehow Ethan had made the dome resistant to electricity. He turned and charged alongside Frank, but Ethan began shadow-travelling rapidly. The three heroes found themselves seeing only glimpses of shadow. Finally, Frank turned into a dragon and blew a giant plume of flame in the general direction of Ethan. He tried to shadow-travel, but the flames eliminated the shadows, and he was forced to summon a wall of stone to shield himself. When the flames subsided, Ethan found himself defending against the blades of both Jason and Percy. They were trained experts with the blade, but somehow Ethan fended them off. Frank was recovering from his blast of fire though, and the thought of facing three of them in combat made Ethan anxious. He hadn't yet learned to fully use his powers. To buy time, he slammed his sword as hard as he could into Jason's imperial gold blade; the power of the two substances clashing sent a shockwave out that blew everyone back several feet. Moving quickly, Ethan began summoning. He wasn't sure what he was summoning, but he concentrated on the earth and the dead. The dome fell away, but the sun didn't shine. Rather, darkness coated the arena; dead warriors were erupting from the ground all over, forcing the three heroes to divert their attention to them. Meanwhile, a tip of rock emerged at Ethan's feet. He didn't have time to think about what he was forming, but he kept concentrating.

Percy, Jason, and Frank found themselves fighting for their lives against an endless wave of armed zombies. Jason managed to sneak a peak in between attacks to see Ethan standing next to what looked like a miniature mountain coming out of the ground. It seemed impossible, but the rock mass kept growing. Soon enough it stretched over two hundred feet tall and began crowding the arena for space. This alone seemed unrealistic, but then Ethan quit forming the mountain, and he picked it up. The dead stopped forming, and the three heroes took care of them quickly, but found themselves facing Ethan, who was holding a mountain in his hands and looked prepared to throw it. Ina last-ditch effort, Jason summoned one more lightning bolt, sending him to his knees in exhaustion, but the bolt only cut off the tip. Two hundred tons of rock were still pointed their way.

Percy was speechless. It was hard enough when the guy had fought like one of them, but this wasn't human. This was godly. "What do we do?" he muttered, half expecting no answer.

"We yield," Frank said, sounding disappointed.

With a triumphant groan, Ethan heaved the mountain into the air. The other heroes cried out in fear, but before it could crush them, it splintered into thousands of pieces, which were seemingly sucked into the earth. The darkness gave way to the bright afternoon day it truly was. The four sweaty, exhausted demigods looked around for the first time and saw two things: First, the arena was a wreck. They had definitely done some serious damage to it. Second, the entire camp was watching them, awestruck.

Matthew stood up and walked to Ethan, a serious look in his face. When he reached him, Ethan waited for him to call him a freak of nature, but Matthew just said, "So, you ate twelve pieces of pizza you said?"


End file.
